I am about to begin my next build, and it has 8 drawers. As many of you know, I like making drawers ... complex drawers. And these ones are no exception.[

It got me thinking about the improvements I'd like to make to my Moxon vise. I have plans to make a new Moxon vise, using steel screws and iron wheels ala BenchCrafted, and all the parts are waiting in my workshop. But they will wait until this build is completed. And so I decided to modify the Moxon vise I have been using for the past 8 years.

The Moxon vise is not simply about holding a board to saw dovetails. It is also about holding two boards together to transfer the tails to the pin board.

In regard to the holding-to-transfer, David Barron designed a useful jig, a dovetail alignment board ...

The issue I have with this is that I do not want another appliance to add to the ones I already have. But I like the idea, and wanted to incorporate it.

To cut to the chase, here is my modified Moxon vise ....

The first item is the ledge at the rear, which is covered in non-slip. The non-slip is for stair treads. The ledge is an idea taken from Joel Moskowitz (Tools for Working Wood), and is intended to use with a clamp when the tail board may need to be clamped. I have used clamps in the past, and so I know it is a good idea.

Where this ledge differs is that it has a raised, hinged section, that places the tail board 16mm above the chop. This was also present on my previous version ...

This allows the higher section to be folded out of the way when sawing ...

The reason for this is that a coplanar top surface will lead to the chop being marked up by the knife when transferring the tails. This is the reason I recommend that the Moxon vise does not receive a table at the rear. It is why I prefer instead to raise the work piece up higher than the chop, out of harms way. The rear of the board is supported by the "I-beam" (which can be seen in the photos.

The inside of the chop and the vise face are now covered by a material made from a composite of cork and rubber. BenchCrafted sell this as "crubber". I researched it on the 'Net and purchased a large piece on eBay.

Note above that there are dados in the chop and the face. The dado in the face has a recessed rare earth magnet.

I had an idea to make an integral, but removable alignment fence. This is a steel angle faced with hardwood ...

Not sure IF I even need a Moxxon vise.....as almost all my joinery in the shop, is done sitting on a shop stool, at the end of my bench, using the end vise, or the mortising jig. Plough planes get used along the "front" of the bench. Not enough room, anyway, for an add-on vise. IF need be, I can clamp a part to the side apron of the bench...

(05-14-2019, 08:27 PM)adamcherubini Wrote: I like it. But just for the sake of historical accuracy, I’m pretty sure there’s no such thing as a Moxon vise. Moxon copied a Clamp from Felibien.

I have used my homemade parallel clamps on top of my bench many times and it’s darn handy for doing edge work on narrow stock.

So build away. Don’t let me talk anyone out of anything. My workbench is not a perfect clone of an 18th c bench. But I am finding more and more the serenity of simple ancient woodworking tools.

(05-14-2019, 10:22 PM)bandit571 Wrote: Not sure IF I even need a Moxxon vise.....as almost all my joinery in the shop, is done sitting on a shop stool, at the end of my bench, using the end vise, or the mortising jig. Plough planes get used along the "front" of the bench. Not enough room, anyway, for an add-on vise. IF need be, I can clamp a part to the side apron of the bench...

Comes in handy, for panel glue-ups....mainly as a third/helping hand.

It is interesting how these vises have come to be known as "Moxon Vises". Perhaps we should blame Chris Schwarz for this!

20-plus years ago I was using a version of this .... a board straddled between two Record vises ...

This progressed to my version of what-was-to-become-a-Moxon-vise ... screws set into the side of the bench ....

This actually remained until a year before I built a new, Roubo-styled bench in 2012. The Moxon vise was the reason I could build this style bench, since it left the holding of dovetails to a separate vise, and allowed a leg vise and end vise to become specialist equipment.

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